The Beggining of the end
by Atreides40
Summary: The beginning of the end of Kohona, village, new and powerful people coming up will Naruto handle it? find out and read.
1. Chapter 1

The Beginning of the End

It was nighttime in the Konoha Village, the trees rustling with the gusts of wind, the streets are silent and it seems all is well. All but the fleet of traveling shadows, so stealthily that even the animal-masked ANBU guards couldn't even notice. They were jumping from tree to tree, like fire flickering in a campsite, the shadows were traveling wards an apartment building, strange for a group of men wearing their own different forehead protector with long scratches across the villages symbol. They were the Akatsuki Organization, wearing their red clouds on black robes; they were here for a boy called Naruto Uzumaki.

The members stepped through the window, and into the apartment; it was messy enough, and trying not to awaken the blonde boy seemed more difficult than it looked, especially with 2 missing-nins and 1 thought dead.

The strange figure with the always-activated sharingan eye spoke:

"Here he is _Tishame _I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier, but it will bring unnecessary setbacks to our plan." He spoke in his cold, calculating voice.

Tishame, the leader of the group scowled "You knew all along Itachi, if it wasn't for your sharingan eyes, I would have you dead in a heartbeat. And you too Kisame, if you weren't part of the Seven Sinobi-gatana, you will be dead too."

The shark-like faced man smiled "Just because you didn't know about this earlier doesn't make it our fault, we were just following _your_ orders……." He laid his huge sword, covered with bandages, on the side of the wall "And besides, just because he is your flesh and blood doesn't make him any special, we haven't spared anyone else, so why does it……"

Tishame growled "I know, well, at least don't take him yet, I want to get him comfortable with me, and then unveil who I am at the last minute, he'll be glad to know who I am when he dies for our purpose."

Kisame smiled, he and Itachi have gotten off the hook, for now. They know how Tishame gets when he's angry, and someone usually ends up dead.

Tishame looked down at the boy, he pulled back the night gown he wore and sensed where the seal was, where he anticipated where he would extract the beastly Kyuubi. He smiled; they would be reunited soon enough, at the Cuunin exams in two weeks.

Naruto opened his eyes, he sniffed in the morning air, and it felt good across against his sleepy face. Then he thought "I didn't leave the window open…." He quickly panicked, looking all over his apartment for anything that has been stolen or disturbed. He shrugged, and thought that it was just a big gust hurled his windows, "Calm down, it's probably nothing Naruto." He thought, the village was filled with the best ninja from around the world, nothing could've happened.

He walked over to the door, and just before he got there, he jumped back when he saw a familiar face.

"AHHHHHHHHH Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, he tripped over a chord, and tumbled cartoon-style into the kitchen. He stood up and Kakashi had an uncharacteristic look of seriousness on his face, and he was accompanied with two ANBU ninjas.

"Naruto" he said, with a tone of intense seriousness to match the look on his face "the Hokage requests your presence at her office, now."

Naruto was didn't know what was going on, the intense concentration on his face gave away the fact that he didn't have a clue of what just happened. He reluctantly agreed, being too quiet for his own good, and they jumped off into the busy streets of Konoha.

They got to the big red building with the symbol of "Hokage" on its roof, reflecting the stone-carved faces of the past Hokage's etched in the mountain behind it, the hustle and bustle coming in and out of it will only show how bad it will be on the inside. They hopped from balcony to balcony; up to the one that is what Naruto hopes of one day soon residing in, the Hokage's.

He walked in to the office, hands behind his head and waiting to be scorned for something, he just didn't know what was going on to make Kakashi-sensei _this _serious. The big leather chair in the room swung around, and in it sat the fifth, a blonde looking 20-year-old with her eyes burning with both anger and tears.

"Naruto..." Tsunade whispered, "On behalf of the Konoha police, I herby declare your arrest for murder of two villagers." Naruto froze, then laughed it off, "ne… old woman, what are you trying to pull on me, murder? I didn't kill anyone." The tearing Hokage, struggling to keep herself under control, said "Sorry Naruto, but all evidence points to you. You will be tried in 11 days from now, until then, you will be placed in a high security cell for the most serious wrong-doers."

Kakashi held his head in one hand, and lead Naruto through the streets with the other, with the silent ANBU guards following nearby.

"Why, Naruto, why did you kill those innocent people?" He said in a trembling voice, wondering of how this annoying ninja killed two innocents.

"I didn't kill anyone," Naruto said indignantly, "I didn't know about how they think I killed a person, I don't even know the evidence she was talking about, all I know is, I'm innocent, and that's what matters, right sensei?" he looked at Kakashi hopefully, but after the straight face, Naruto continued looking at the ground, as if waiting for judgment day to pass.

Sakura was the first person, other than the Hokage, the ANBU guards, and Kakashi, to know about the mishap, she covered her mouth in disbelief of how Naruto, the same Naruto who can't dodge the dog-crap on the sidewalk, actually killed two people. "Kakashi sensei, do you really think he did it?" she looked at him hopefully, but got turned down by his ignoring gaze.

Pretty soon, the word got out that Naruto Uzumaki is in jail for murder, it was unbelievable that Naruto would do such a thing to two normal people.

That afternoon, Sakura went to talk to Tsunade about Naruto, because she was speechless by the terrible news. She went into the Konoha Hospital where she was to have her weekly lessons with the Hokage; she walked into the O.R. room, and stopped to bow to her sensei. "Tsunade-sensei, please, before we begin, tell me about what happened with Naruto, is it true?" Tsunade couldn't lie to her student, her only student who has been more like her than anyone she has ever met.

"You will know the specifics as we work on our next lesson, which is identifying dead bodies and how they died, during the lesson I will fill you in, but be warned, the bodies are not pleasant."

Sakura shuddered, she felt it disturbing to examine the bodies that Naruto killed, and she found it sickening to even think about it.

Tsunade finally spoke, leaning over a table covered with a blue cloth, and strange bumps were showing themselves in its outline. Tsunade's hand glowed, an eerily green glow as if it breathed life "You should already know all of the human body parts, you just put the same chakra in your hand as if your healing someone, then you mold it to where it can connect the flesh." Her hand pulsed as she connected two lumps from under the blanket; it was a courtesy call for those who really don't want to see the dead bodies.

They got to work, molding the pieces one by one until they completed two legs apiece, not bad for a four hours worth of work. They went on a lunch break to regain some of their chakra, by that time Hinata Hyuuga, one of the main branch Hyuuga clan's people. She came over, with her big pupil-less eyes gazing at the table, knowing far to well what were under those ominous blue blankets.

Sakura, tired and impatient, asked the Hokage about Naruto, something that Hinata wanted to hear, but at the same time she didn't.

Tsunade sighed, closed her eyes, and plunged into the story, "Around 5:00 this morning, the ANBU guards found two bodies dead, they are unknown, which is weird since nobody has been claimed anyone missing or dead yet. And we found on the ground and in blood, claw marks, and signs of teeth on the buildings and big gashes in the sides of concrete walls. Also, we sensed an ugly chakra, it was gross the way it felt, and we knew that it was probably the work of Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox."

Hinata fainted at the last syllable, it struck her like a ton of bricks, she landed on the floor and started weeping uncontrollably, her whole body shuddering from the heavy gasps she took. Sakura could only put her arm around her and comfort poor Hinata, it was like finding out her own brother died, it is horrible to go through.

"well, think of it this way, Hinata," Hinata perked up a bit, "We can ask him a little later, I'm going over to the jail tomorrow, and you and a few other people can come with me too."

Hinata perked up a bit, she felt that she could talk to Naruto and see if he did it or not, she had to figure it out by herself, it was driving her crazy.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sakura and Hinata walked into the prison, the walls were cold and lifeless and torches lit up the hallway. The jail cells held ninjas with plain, striped clothes and some of them were actually chained to the floor, others had blindfolds attached to them, for fear of genjutsu being used upon them. They walked through the halls, hearing the jeers and the whispers from all of the criminals, Hinata walked close to Sakura, hoping that hiding will protect her from the nasty people.

The ANBU guard lead them into a deeper section, where the halls got tighter and then opened up to an open area, where it contained cells tightly lined up with multiple cell mates talking and complaining about their current situation. The guard told them to stay there, and after a couple of minutes sitting in the cold, he came walking back with Naruto, all chained up and in the uniform clothes of a convicted criminal. The guard sat him in a plain wooden chair, and then locked the chains of his feet to the iron rings that were solid in the concrete on the floor.

The first thing Sakura did was hug Naruto, almost suffocating him with the huge amount of strength she attained while training with Tsunade. Hinata just looked at him, tears welling in her eyes and hands over her mouth, she wanted to hug him, to tell him that it will be all right, but she feared it, and just decided to greet him instead. After Sakura finished her massive bear hug, she waited for Hinata to say what she had to say, every girl knew Hinata's feelings towards Naruto, they just stay out of it and allow him to figure it out for himself.

"Naruto…" she began, always uncomfortable while talking to him "… I'm sorry that you got locked up in here, and Sakura and I are trying our best to try and let you get out." She blushed, and Naruto cocked his head, wondering who said that since his blind fold hasn't been removed yet. "Hinata?" he asked, and when he said it, she bushed to a deep red, almost purple, she was glad that it was shadowy in there. "Naruto, I know that you didn't do it, there isn't enough evidence against you to be guilty" Sakura stated, "I talked to Shikamaru about it and he reviewed all of the possibilities. He said that there are some other people that can be held responsible by just looking at the scene. He said that all of the animal scratches can be from Kira's clan, or any other animal related clan out there. The chakra can be from Orochimaru's minions, or any other jinchuuriki that could've snuck into the village."

Naruto looked up, confused at what she said since he lost her during the beginning of his own briefing. He just smiled and said "Well then, I hope I get out of here soon. There are two really weird people in my cell and… they really creep me out." Hinata is pained to see Naruto's confusion, so she brings up another point. "Well, everything has been fishy ever since the Hokage's new advisor has just come in." Naruto and Sakura both nodded their heads, ever since the disappearance of Shizune, Tsunade's new secretary has not been on everyone's best side. "But it happens to look like that he has complete control over her, and seems to have Tsunade that Naruto was the one killing those people, and we know that she knows Naruto better than most people" once again Naruto cocked his head in confusion. He felt it strange that Hinata talked at all, but now all of her talking was a sort of salve to his ears. He never stopped to listen to her and now that he does, it sounds like a lonely violin playing in a quiet chorus room.

Sakura and Hinata watched as the guard took Naruto away, and then they headed for the exit. While walking down the hallway to the entrance, or rather better put, and exit to the dank place, a prisoner sentenced to the death row stopped them, and seemed to know matters quite well. "Yeah, I hear that one of the people that were murdered was that old assistant of Tsu…" he was cut off by one of the guards, who then knocked him out after coming around the corner. The guard quickly turned around and apologized, said that the man liked to scare people in the hallway, and lifted the prisoner onto his back and disappeared in a poof.

Back in the jail cell…

There was a small shuffle as Naruto's "prison-buddy" shifts his chains to get closer to the cell next to him. "Aye, y'see that Naruto kid?" he cackled, then coughed and wheezed as his old lungs quenched for air. "Aye, he looks like he wouldn't hurt a fly, but then again he does have that Kyuubi inside of him." Said the shady figure on the other side of the hole; with rot just affecting his already itchy throat. They both laughed and hacked together, having a grand ol' time as inmates for life.

They both hushed up pretty quick when the ANBU member escorted Naruto in the lonely cell, both giggling like school children as they had their perverse laugh over the hotter inmates, and the uglier ones as well. The ANBU guard was not in the mood, so he flashed a minute-long Genjutsu on what they should and should not do in the cell. But the guard was putting the chains back on Naruto, he suddenly disappeared in a flash; and the inmate jumped and crouched in a flash. A few seconds later, he realized that the ANBU was unconscious in a Genjutsu while in a Head-hunter Jutsu. The criminal looked quickly over by the doorway and spied upon a figure covered completely in black; Naruto himself, confused by the way things were headed, saw the man in the doorway and took a breath to shout out. But he was knocked out before he shouted.

The man put on his gloves, just being a black-covered figure with only the eyes showing, he sent out a burst of chakra that made massive dents in the concrete walls. Then his hands grew to a massive size as they stretched out the fabric of the glove and he took five swipes at the wall, leaving scratch marks that went deep into the concrete. Blood was spilt over the floor, the inmate died after his internal organs ruptured and became nothing but a mass of skin and bones, barely recognizable as man or tar. The figure looked at Naruto, impressed that all of his injuries have only been was a spot of blood trickling from the mouth.

"_Must be Kyuubi… good for him"_ he thought, with a small smirk under his handkerchief that covered the lower half of his mouth. He flipped a letter out of nowhere that floated gently onto Naruto's chest, the only thing contrasting from the devastating scene that shocked the prison. Two ANBU guards appeared at the door with a swirl of a cloud, their bodies shaking from the hit of chakra that passes through the facility. They saw the man turn around and disappear as if he was a cloud of smoke.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The town was shaken up by the commotion in the prison, even when the ANBU guards tried to stop them, there were always lucky ninja who escaped and saw the mind-blowing wreck. The guards cleared the whole thing in a few days, making it look like it never happened n the first place.

The ANBU guard who was trapped in the Head-Hunter Jutsu went under hypnosis, he revealed little since he was unconscious most of the time, and the ANBU guards revealed that they have seen another, darker person. By the time Naruto was introduced into the subject, the evidence has concluded that it was by the same attacker, but it had no real motive.

Naruto took a deep breath as the ANBU guard lead him out of the prison, the voices of hatred and jeers of the other prisoners burned into his mind, he knew that there were things that he could never forget.

Naruto looked around, stretching himself and jumping up and down, he glanced over at the prisons cemetery and nodded at the two new headstones that were added.

Naruto wasn't paying attention when he bumped into a boy, about his age with long, black hair tied into a ponytail and he was carrying a huge wooden pole. He was blindfolded, witch Naruto thought was odd since it seemed the boy was facing straight at him, and he was also clad in entirely black clothes that hung loose around him.

The boy cocked his head and gave a mischievous smiled, "Hey, watch where you're going next time." He spoke with a voice tinted with annoyance. Naruto nodded and the boy nodded back, when he heard a voice call "Hey, Raul, stop flirting with him, I'm always tired of you being the slowest."

Naruto turned towards the voice and saw two people, the one who spoke had white spiky hair that was about a foot high and was wearing a gray long-sleeve shirt, and he also had black jeans that had about 3 kunai holsters on the right leg. But what was weird about him that he was also blindfolded and he had armbands from the Earth, Fire, and Grass country on his right arm. The Lightning, Rain, and Sound armbands on his left arm. And the Wave, Water, Waterfall and wind country's bands on his left leg.

Naruto stared wide eyed at the collection, gawking at all of the armbands while the boy had a look of annoyance across his face. Then Naruto saw another boy come from behind him, he had all black on like the first boy, he had brown hair that came over his ears, but he wasn't blindfolded, he also wore a huge duster and the scariest thing about him was that he had two withered black wings coming out of the back of the coat.

"Well well, look what we have here Justin, looks like the Fire country has such lax security in its prisons that even a child can escape it." Said the boy with all of the armbands as he turned and nodded at him.

"Yeah, if we were back in our country, this wouldn't happen as much, but then again it looks like we don't have a definite country, does it Recks?" They both turned and laughed, with Raul facing them with an impatient look on his face.

Naruto snapped back and asked "Where are you guys from?" He never seen them in his life, or even heard of such a group before. Justin turned to him and smiled "We are from everywhere, but we are currently sent here to fight in the Chuunin exams."

Raul smirked and said "But I thought we were sent from the wind country?" Then Recks smiled the widest and said "You are both wrong! We are sent from the Rain country to fight in the Chuunin exams!" The other two slapped themselves on the forehead and they all burst out into laughter while a very confused Naruto looked at them while scratching his head.

While the boys were laughing, a figure came up behind them and cleared his throat. The three boys looked at him and quietly calmed down. The man had a long robe on and short blonde hair with round glasses that he pushed up all of the time. He glanced at Naruto and cheerfully spoke "Naruto! How good of it to see you out of jail, I heard of what happened, but I don't believe it one bit that you killed those innocent people."

Naruto glanced and said "Oh, hello Shashame, are you doing errands for Tsunade again?" Naruto didn't really like Shashame after he took over Shizune's role as the Hokage's assistant, but he could never figure out what it was he disliked about him.

"Yes, I'm just escorting these fine ninjas around and they seemed to have given me the slip." He sighed and shook his head. He turned around and he exclaimed "Oh! And I think you should pay a visit to Sakura, I bet she'll be happy to hear the news." Naruto nodded, and then he headed off towards The Hokage's mansion to see if Sakura was there.

Naruto walked into the mansion when all of a sudden he bumped into Shikamaru, who looked at Naruto in a prideful way, "Hey Naruto, I see you're looking healthy now that you're out of jail." Naruto beamed and said "Yep, I'm glad that I'm outta there too. Hey, I bet you know this, what country is the group that Shashame is touring around here?"

Shikamaru thought for a minute and said "I believe that they are from the volcano country, its on a big island out in the middle of the ocean."

Naruto thanked him and ran up the stairs to Tsunade's office, dodging people as they were walking by. He opened the door and he saw Sakura talking to Tsunade, they both turned to Naruto and smiled, Sakura rushed to hug him and Tsunade stood and nodded. They were settling down when Tsunade started talking "Naruto, you may not know this, but your team is again selected for this year's Chuunin exams along with last year's teams. We are giving you a second chance, I have a person that can help you with your training, train hard for the next four days, you'll need it."

Tsunade gave Naruto an envelope with the address to the place and sent him off. Five minutes later Naruto knocked on the door to a home that looked familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

A servant opened the door and looked down with disgust at Naruto as he snatched the envelope from his hands and he read the content that was inside. He told Naruto to wait there and shut the ancient oak door and this time a tall man with black hair and pupil-less eyes answered the door with cold silence.

He looked over Naruto quickly and opened the door further to invite him in, witch Naruto took a reluctant step onto the cold, wooden floors. They passed rooms where there were people drinking and laughing, Naruto felt odd since they were in the same house that the man leading him owned. They passed by a few rooms where people were passed out drunk, and another had a couple having sex. They passed the long hall and took an immediate right, where they went to the very end of the hall which only had a stone door with the country's leaf emblazoned on its front. Naruto was ushered inside the door, where he saw Hinata and Neji were meditating fiercely in, the veins of their Byakugan pulsing on their heads and beads of sweat rolling down their heads.

The head of the Hyuuga family snapped his fingers and they both broke from their trance, Hinata immediately blushed and Neji looked at his father figure with deep intent, as if his look asked him the questions. "Ok Naruto, they'll tell you everything you need to know, and make sure you follow everything because I'm sure Neji won't repeat himself." Then he nodded and locked the door.

Neji sighed and shook his head and mumbled words that Naruto couldn't make out. Neji stood up and touched a big boulder that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere in the dark room. Surprisingly the boulder moved to reveal a huge mirror.

Naruto looked in the mirror and gasped to have seen that he could not see his reflection whatsoever, and could only see Neji down to his waist and Hinata down to her ankles. Naruto was scared and felt his face, just to make sure he was still there. Neji smiled as he saw Naruto go through the shock and then he started to explain.

"Well, as I expected, you don't know anything about yourself…" That's when Naruto him a look of confusion "… well, what you see in the mirror is the parts of your body that you know. You know parts of your body when you go through a trance where you try and get an inner power, sort of like when you look for more chakra inside yourself when you run out of it or when you are in danger…" "_Kyuubi_" Naruto thought. "So, in order for you to be able to reach that immense amount of chakra, you must know all of the parts in your body, like you see me I now know down to "waist" and Hinata is almost to "feet".

Neji looked at Naruto to see if he was lost and as he guessed, he was. So Neji just sighed and said "Just try to beat yourself; good luck, because you'll need it." And when Naruto opened his mouth to argue, Neji threw a purple powder in Naruto's face and Naruto instantly blacked out.

_Sup guys, if you don't know what's going on, Naruto will basically mentally train for a few days, but that means that he'll overcome some interesting obstacles, so just wait for the next chapter that will come out sometime in this next month. _

_Thanks,_

_Atreides40_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Naruto woke up in a hall that seemed familiar, way too familiar. It was dimly lit with cells spaced out 20 ft. from each-other. Then Naruto realized what this dark, dank place was; his mind. Naruto looked around and tried to understand something, why did Neji send him here? He looked around in a confused manner, he only comes here when he needs more chakra, but why is he here now?

He finally decided that he should ask the only other person who shares his mind with him, Kyuubi. He walked down a maze of hallways, twisting and turning this way and that until he stood in front of a large cell with a seal on it, with two of the biggest and meanest eyes you have ever seen.

Kyuubi snickered; obviously knowing what was going on but decided to tease Naruto about being lost in there.

"_You k_now_, I think now you'll realize how drab it is in here, and I have to suffer through this every day."_ Kyuubi gave a little giggle as if thinking something awfully nasty. _"There is nothing in here, and I thought that even retards had a speck of intelligence."_ The fox snickered at insulting Naruto's intelligence, and Naruto took it into offence.

"Hey you stupid fox..." he demanded"… what the hell is going on here?"

"_Tsk tsk Naruto, even if you are you, I know more about you than you'll ever realize." _The demon snickered again and then started talking again_ "I know about you because of "Head", we talk so much and have so much in common."_

Then, all of a sudden, another Naruto grew out of the middle bar that is keeping the doors shut, and he gave a Naruto-like-toothy-smile. Naruto was amazed when the fake shook his hand vigorously, talking about deep and personal things that only Naruto knew.

Naruto over came the shock and asked his fake "Who the hell are you? I'm Naruto!"

The copy shook his head and said "Duh, of course you are Naruto, I'm Head, your head's personality and your hidden chakra of head." Naruto looked confused, wondering what Head meant until Head sighed and said "Ok, short and simple, I know things that you can learn automatically, but you have to beat me to do that. There are 8 of us you have to beat, Neck, Chest, Arms, Hands, Abs, Legs and Feet. If you can beat all of us, then you can reach your full chakra potential in each body part, easy enough?"

Naruto shivered with excitement, _full chakra potential, _he thought, _this is gonna be sweet. _The fox and Head chuckled, knowing that Naruto will say yes to this challenge and Head threw a kunai at Naruto to get his attention. Naruto deflected it with his own and he immediately shouted "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and with a poof of smoke, 2 other Narutos appeared and started to attack. Head started by throwing down a smoke ball, but Naruto and his clones each threw a kunai into the smoke, Naruto heard a little "puff" and the smoke dissipated to show no one there. Naruto looked at the spot in confusion when one of his clones attacked another, and it disappeared with a "poof".

Naruto then realized that the clone that attacked was Head, who used a Substitution Jutsu with one of his clones. Naruto cursed and then threw an exploding tag at each wall, and then he detonated them with a loud "Bang". And when the smoke cleared, he saw Head stand in the smoke with half of his shirt burnt. Head tore the shirt and threw it to the ground, then he used his own Shadow Clone Jutsu and he and 2 other clones appeared and threw down smoke bombs witch filled the hall up with smoke. The fox laughed at this and Naruto began to freak out, he felt a slash cut deep into his back and he threw a knife at the first clone, witch disappeared with another cloud of smoke.

Naruto was trembling, his senses heightened as he tried to calm down, _now think, _he pondered,_ where would I attack next…_ and then he knew and threw five kunai at the ceiling where he heard a cry and four thuds as he heard the kunai hit the ceiling and he caught the fifth that hit the clone. The smoke lifted and then he saw Head, mildly impressed, and the fox shook his head in disappointment._ "I guess he is smarter then he looks."_ Kyuubi mused "Ma_ybe you should try doing something different than what he did." _Head spat and shouted "Shut the fuck up you stupid fox, this is my battle and you aren't going to tell me what to do asshole!" Head was pissed, obviously ready to explode, when Naruto got an idea, _I wonder if this will work, I haven't tried this in a while._ Then Naruto took a deep breath and used a hand sign to use his Shadow Clones. Head turned and laughed "you retard! That won't work a second time!"

Naruto smiled and then shouted "Harem Jutsu!" and then in a puff of smoke, all of his clones, including him, turned into hot, naked women that all hugged Head and made sexy orgasm noises. As Naruto expected, Head got a major nosebleed and flew back 100 feet into the hallway and Naruto and Kyuubi snickered.

"_I hate to admit it kid, but that was a good move, you showed that fucking asshole his place."_

Naruto smiled and he jumped to where Head landed, and watched while he tried to get the nosebleed under control. When Head stuffed two tissues in his Nostrils, he turned around and stared at Naruto with a blood-thirsty glare. "That was a bitch move Naruto, next time you won't be so lucky." It all of a sudden got misty in the hallway and Head laughed, Naruto shivered from realization, this is the Hidden Mist Jutsu, but how does Head know this?

Head laughed at Naruto, the laughs echoed across the walls and made it seem like he was all over the place. "I have excellent memory Naruto, and the secret scroll that you stole from the third had this jutsu on it, it's just that you never had the time to memorize it. But while you were busy learning how to make shadow clones, I was secretly watching from the back of your mind, trying oh so hard to memorize it. But now is the time that I use it."

Naruto shivered from fear, it's this kind of thing that he really hates, and it's not seeing his enemies. He heard the whiz of to kunai come toward him, but he dodged it too late and one clipped him on the shoulder and he cringed as he pulled it out. Luckily it didn't go in too far, or he would be bleeding a lot worse than it was. He tried to ignore it, but the pain distracted him enough for Head to sneak up behind him. Head lifted a kunai above his head, and sent it deep into Naruto's neck; Naruto stiffened, and then fell to the floor, blood slowly coming out of his mouth as he fought for breath.

He looked at the Kyuubi and saw his blood-thirsty eyes and devilish smile, he looked down at Naruto and said _"well, how nice, you do all of this and not ask for help, and look at what it has come to, YOUR DEATH!"_ Kyuubi started to laugh evilly and Naruto cringed under the pain, slowly losing consciousness and he saw black around his eyes, _why won't he help me? _Naruto wondered, _if I die, then won't he die?_

Naruto finally realized that there was a small trail of bubbles coming toward him, red bubbles that slowly came and engulfed him. He then lost consciousness and sat up, his eyes flared red as the bubbles engulfed his body and healed up all of his wounds. Head looked at Kyuubi in surprise and shouted "You fucking traitor! You never wanted me to win after all! You wanted to kill me with this boy!"

Kyuubi just snickered and watched as Naruto started his attack, waiting to see if Naruto was truly a person who can wield his powers. Naruto got down on all fours like an animal and roared with chakra pumped into his voice, which blew away all of the mist and left Head speechless. Then he disappeared in a flurry of movement and before Head could react, Naruto was behind him and used the chakra in his hand to slap him on the face and send him crashing into the wall.

Naruto reached with red chakra to lift up Head and bring him closer, and then Naruto used his own hand and held Head around his neck. Head opened one eye and spat on Naruto's face and started thrashing violently. Naruto drew back his other hand and punched Head down the hallway, with blood oozing down his forehead Head staggered and strained to stand up and Naruto appeared before him showing him a smile that looked like it came straight from Kyuubi. He used his chakra to push Head deep into the wall and Kyuubi laughed violently, with a quick "huff" all of the bubbles were whisked into Kyuubi's mouth and Naruto stood, dazed and confused as he saw Head jammed into a crater on the wall.

With nothing holding him up, Head crumbled to the floor, and he looked like he was sinking into the floor, as if it was soaking him in. Head looked up and gave Naruto a look of defeat and then laughed. "Very good Naruto, when you wake up from this trance not only will you be able to use the Hidden Mist Jutsu, but you will also be able to use 1 tail of Kyuubi. But I barely think that you can beat Neck with just those abilities."

He laughed as he was totally immersed with the floor, and his maniacal laugh still echoed throughout the empty hallway. _"Well now, what am I going to do now for company?"_ Kyuubi mused, then he perked his ears up and smiled. "_Well, it seems that you won't be with us any longer." _Naruto was about to ask what he meant when he all of a sudden woke up from his trance from Neji.

Neji had scratches all over his face and Naruto saw a red spot from under the bandages on his leg. Naruto glanced at Hinata and he saw her with a big black eye and she was clutching her stomach. Neji sighed and mumbled "I guess she hasn't beaten her again." Naruto looked at them and wondered what happened to them when Hinata looked at him and blushed. Then, timidly, she asked "Naruto, I guess you beat your head without problems, I need to train more to beat my feet."

Naruto gave her another strange look and was about to ask Neji what happened when he began to speak. "Naruto, we have these injuries because when we fight inside, they are still fighting us, so we also gain injuries on the outside. What I haven't figured out is how you escaped from injury."

Neji's eyes narrowed and Naruto just put his hand behind his head and said "well, I am amazing and he really couldn't take me down, even if he is my head the real me can never be beat"

Neji just shrugged and Hinata blushed again and then Naruto just realized something. "Hey, don't I have three more days of training to do?" Neji looked at him coolly and said "in your mind, things pass faster than they really are, tomorrow is really the Chuunin exam and we want you to rest up before it starts."

Naruto looked at the mirror and was pleased when he saw his head in the reflection. He turned around and said his thanks and walked around the Hyuuga mansion, stepping around needles and naked couples and walked up to Hyuuga Hanabi and bowed before him.

"Thank you Mr. Hyuuga, I'll come after the first exam to continue my training." The head of the Hyuuga house waved him off and then called for a servant. The servant led Naruto through the door and told him "the Chuunin exam people will meet in front of the village" and without another word he turned his heel and shut the door, leaving Naruto standing outside in the dark. Naruto started his walk when to his apartment when then he had the urge to try out the Hidden Mist Jutsu.

He thought about it and then, all of a sudden, he instantly went through all of the training that Head went through to learn how to use the technique. Naruto then immediately with all skill and ease that would make a person think that they have been doing this for years, made all the hand signs and uttered "Hidden Mist Jutsu". And then the whole street had a thick mist appear from nowhere.

Naruto smiled at his accomplishment and walked through the mist, knowing that somewhere through it was a nice, cozy bed waiting just for him.

_Hey guys, the first part of the Chuunin exams are next chapter, are you eager to read more? Then get ready for the first in a two-part story on the first Chuunin exams._

_Atreides40 _


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

ANBU guards were extraordinarily busy the morning of the Chuunin exams, with late arrivals popping in the village like rabbits, even Shikamaru had his hands full, escorting important contestants to the check-in because they think it's funny to turn citizens' dogs into statues. Naruto woke up from a loud explosion from outside his apartment, he threw back his sheets and rushed to his balcony, where he saw Jiraiya face-down on the bird-shit ridden roof. He had a perverted look on his face as he turned around and lifted his hand "please! I mistook you for an old friend of mine and did our 'special' greeting!" Naruto turned to see who he was looking at, and he suddenly realized why his sensei had "the look" on his face. She was about sixteen years-old, her long, brown hair was in a whip-long braid and her body, which was covered with a pair of black jeans and a snow-white coat, matured about ten more years ahead of her. She had an annoyed expression on her face, but Naruto knew that without the silent rage boiling inside of her, her face would be radiating with beauty. She turned to Naruto and apologized politely, and when she turned around, she did a double take towards Jiraiya and said in a threatening voice that would have killed someone on the spot "_touch me again, old-man, and next time you will go through the fucking concrete." _And when she turned around, she vanished in the bright sunlight that told Naruto that it was time to go to the Chuunin exams.

Naruto ran puffing towards the gates, if he was late to the exams, then Sakura would skewer him and cook him alive. But when ran out of the gate he accidentally bumped into one of Justin's wings, and when he turned around, Naruto found out that both Recks and Raul were behind him, and they encircled him.

"Hey, what's the big idea _asshole?_ Watch where you're going or the next time here my pal here will rip off your balls and feed them to his Summon…"

And Raul was cut off by Justin's stern look, which still freaked out Naruto how Raul can see with his eyes covered.

Naruto, starting to feel brave, was about to challenge them to a fight until Sakura unknowingly walked into the middle of the circle and apologized to the boys for Naruto's idiocy. Naruto was about to ask Sakura what the big idea was, until she pushed him to Shashame, who just smiled and handed Naruto an envelope with his name written in big letters. Naruto felt jittery and ripped open the envelope, which contained this small letter and various maps of mountain regions.

_Uzumaki Naruto,_

_For the first Chuunin exam, you will have to travel to the Country Hidden in the Snow where you will meet with a randomly chosen participant that has the same mission. You both will meet at the Kage's office where you both will be assigned with the same Class B mission. You will pass the exam based on the following:_

_Mission completion_

_Kage's written approval_

_Survival_

_Partner's Survival_

_Hope to see you both alive!_

Naruto read the letter four more times, took a big breath, and felt shivers from excitement go down his spine. He smiled and then an idea hit him, _"how am I gonna get there?" _His question was answered right after Shashame handed out the last envelope, in which he cleared his throat and said just slightly above the crowd "AHEM! Well now that I have your attention, we will all travel in an ORDERLY fashion to the train station; they know where to go so make sure you come off at your appropriate station. If you do not make it off at your destination then you are immediately disqualified and your partner will also have to suffer disqualification, so please try to get off your stop if you want to live the beating you will get from your partner."

Everyone fell silent after Shashame's last comment, some even snickered they knew what the first half of the exam is, find your partner and make sure that they get off as the same stop as you, even Naruto understood this. Shashame nodded and turned around, and then dashed into the trees, a huge dust cloud suddenly erupted from the ground and when it settled --- no-one was there.

Everyone dashed through the trees so fast that you would never have known that a mob of Genins have been through there right before your eyes. Few kunai were thrown, but ambush had taken out at least two teams from the exam, less competition.

Ten minutes later they arrived at an old train station, the mob of Genin pushed through the turnstiles in an un-orderly fashion. Naruto spotted the girl that his perverted sensei was trying to touch, and she was followed by two other beauties, one with blonde hair and the other with red hair. Both with their own unique features that made them stand out, and they were both clad with jeans and snow-white coats.

After they pushed through the entrance, they started to pile into the age-old train that's corridors were dimly lit by oil lamps. Naruto spotted Sakura in one of the cabins, chatting happily with the group of girls that stole every boys' breath away at the train station. Naruto walked into the cabin and all eyes turned to him, the brown haired girl smiled and waved while Sakura just crossed her arms and shook her head. Naruto all of a sudden turned pale, a cabin of beautiful girls looking at him made him nervous. The blonde girl turned to Sakura and asked politely "well Sakura, why don't you introduce us to your friend here?" Sakura, with her arms still crossed, said "this is Naruto. Naruto, the red head is Sam, the blonde is Jen, and I'm sitting next to Alice. And if you are wondering if there is any room in here, then you can just forget it!" And with the last syllable, she shot Naruto a deadly 'buzz off' look which sent him off scampering into the corridor.

Naruto walked down the corridor, peeking into the cabins to see if there was anyone kind enough to let him sit with him. He eventually looked into a room that had Recks and Justin in it, he tried to slip away, but they pulled him in and he found himself in a headlock.

"Hey there Naruto, m' boy, nice to see you again. Hey, listen, I'm sorry of us getting into fights all the time, let's make it up, whaddaya say?" Laughed Recks while he delivered Naruto a monster noogie. Naruto managed to push himself out of Recks' grip and hit his head on the bottom of a pull-out bunk. Naruto rubbed his head and looked up to see the back of a pair of enormous black wings amidst white sheets.

"Ooo careful there," Recks chided, tutting and shaking his head "you wake Justin up without his spices, and he'll kill you." Naruto looked back at Raul and realized "hey, where is the other guy?"

Recks cocked his head and said "who Raul? He's just gone to 'borrow' some food from some friends of ours."

And as if it was on cue, Raul poked his head into the door and smiled "dinner's here." Recks clapped his hands together and threw a brown sack filled with spices at Justin's head, he slowly rose out of the bed, and then started sniffing the air. His head perked and jumped off of the bunk and landed on the floor without a thud. He suddenly sprinted towards Raul and held out his arm, waiting for Raul to present him with whatever he "borrowed" from his friends. Raul tossed him a package of heated steaks and a fork, and with a big flap from his wings, Justin was sitting with his legs dangling from the side of the bunk and started to wolf down steaks. Recks walked to Naruto and gave him a package.

"Guess we got a little more than we expected, so I hope you're hungry." Naruto nodded and started to eat strips of some of the finest steaks he had tasted in a while. Soon, the whole cabin was filled with the rich aroma of herbs and juices that the tender steaks gave off every bite. Justin was the first one to finish, and once he did he dropped the empty box on the floor and he then flopped onto the bed and drifted to sleep. Raul was the second one to finish and dropped it on top of the previous one's and pulled out the bunk from under Justin's and crawled under the covers. Recks sighed and took Naruto's empty one and placed his own on the pile of rubbish, and then, in a flash, he sped through hand signs and at once the trash went up into flames. The fire was gone as soon as it was lit, and there was nothing there but a pile of ashes remaining.

Naruto pulled out two more bunks on the other side of the cabin for him and his new friend. Then he, along with the other three people in the cabin, drifted off into a deep sleep.

Five hours later…

BAM!...

Naruto woke up nursing his throbbing head, he just realized that it was only Justin and himself left in the cabin. Before Naruto was going to ask what the big idea was, a heavy coat made him eat his words before they even passed his lips.

"I noticed that you didn't bring a jacket…" Justin said quietly, with half of his body out the sliding door, "…'cause it's going to be cold where we're going." Naruto mumbled his thanks and when he threw on the dark-brown fur coat, he hurried down the corridor to catch up with Justin.

They both stepped out of the warm, cozy train to the icy weather that bit all over any exposed body parts which was unfortunate for Justin since his wings stuck out like two huge leather hides. But he didn't wince once, even with the slivers of ice barraging his wings. They joined a small crowd of tightly wrapped Genin that was circled around an even tighter wrapped Shashame. The oddball group of ten had to pack in close since his words were chopped by the wind and his chattering teeth.

"Well, t…this isss… it, you wi…ill go t…t…to a s…ship a mile s…south. It l…leaves in an hour." And with that statement he broke through the crowd and hurried into the warmth of the train. All the ninja stared, with the exception of one, at the train as it slowly left the station. When it left they huddled around each other, searching for warmth until Justin shot his wings out and signaled Naruto to hold on. Naruto, still shivering from the cold, slowly grabbed on to Justin's neck and with a great heave from the wings, they shot into the gray sky.

The icy wind stung for the first five minutes of the climb, and then when they broke through the clouds it was all clear. Naruto stared in awe at how high they were, how he saw the storm of ice below and how he saw the ocean before him riddled with icebergs. He looked up and dropped his jaw in amazement on how close he was to the sun, he felt as if that they were five feet closer he could grab onto it.

Naruto dismounted from Justin's back and looked around, peered down the low-lit streets and breathed in the salty air. He heard the voices of men laboring over the fish they have caught just hours earlier. There was an occasional group of people walking down the street but other than that people walked in ones or twos.

The flight didn't take very long since distance by air is faster than foot, so before they boarded the wooden ship, they ate at a local café. Naruto ordered the usual Ramen while Justin just ordered a piping hot cup of Earl Grey Tea. They both ate in silence until they noticed four ninjas from the group huddled around Shashame came through the door. They avoided their table, since it was hard to mistake them from being in the group since one had wings and took off with the other one, and went to the booth next to them. Ten minutes later the other four Genin from the group arrived and spilt into twos into two other tables. The restaurant remained silent for a while until the feeble old manager, silly him, didn't check his time and had to wind his clock back ten minutes from the power outage the day before.

"Oh Fuck Me!" Shouted one of the ninja standing from a table of two as he glanced at the clock, the whole restaurant turned to see who said that, except for nine customers who spat out whatever they had in their mouths and swiveled their heads towards the clock.

All hell broke loose.

All the other Genin, with the exception of one, shot out of their chairs and bolted towards the double doors. All of the other customers, wouldn't you know it, were dumb enough to think that there was an attack and started to rush out of the restaurant. Tables turned over, glass cups shattered on the ground and people who were unfortunate enough to trip during the ordeal screamed as they were trampled under the feet of a stampede of angry customers.

Naruto, thinking fast knowing that they were never going to get out of the jammed doors, threw his body against the window of the shop which was completely obliterated upon contact. All of the other ninja, following suit, jumped through the new hole in the wall and soon the mini-mob was racing towards the docks.

They made it, but just barely.

Once they got on board, they bowed and deeply apologized to the captain, who had to hold up the entire ship on order for them of board. They all tried to make excuses, but he would hear none of it, but instead of punishing them he just sent them off into the bunks below where they drifted off into a deep sleep.

Three hours later…

Naruto woke up in the middle of a loud, powerful explosion that nearly tipped the ship over. He held his throbbing head and ran up to the top of the dock to see what was going on. When he got to the top of the deck, swearing silently of how that all of the noise was going to give him a migraine. He shielded his eyes from the sun when he got onto the top of the deck, and when he lowered his hand, he was face-to-face with what looked like a person from a very low-budget horror movie. He saw a man, very muscular, but he was about the size of a barrel, but the feature that made him look abnormal was his top teeth, they stuck out so much that it pushed the skin near the eyes close enough so that the man couldn't see past his eyelids. Naruto's instinct told him to jump back and demand that this man identified himself, but there were flecks of something on the man's face that Naruto couldn't see because of the grin-lines and the wrinkles of the scrunched up face. Blood. Just as Naruto was about to draw his kunai, he heard "Slick bastard!" and the man's head rolled around the deck so quick that Naruto was stunned from the sudden change of scenery. He took a moment to look at the attacker, and it was Justin! Justin's arm was covered with the man's blood, but it was the tar-black color of Justin's arm that surprised him the most.

The Captain came up to Justin as his am turned back to normal and he tucked it within the long sleeves of his duster. He raised his brow "convenient, ain't it?" Justin just shrugged and Naruto brought up the question "what the fuck was that?" Justin nodded, "yes as Naruto phrased it, indeed what the fuck was that?"

The captain spat and put his hands on his hips "they just started popping up recently like roaches, they like to raid ships, but not to steal things, but just for the sake of killing."

Justin nodded, and said "yes old man we know what they do but what the hell are they?" The captain shot Justin a look and shrugged, "beats me, you should ask the Kage when you get to port." He cast a look over his shoulder "speaking of which," he said "we're here."

Justin turned around and Naruto looked around the Captain to try and take a peek at the port. One of the Genin that was busy throwing off the bodies of the creatures slid upside down from a thin wire that was attached to one of the masts of the ship in front of Naruto giving him a happy grin. "Ahh… smell the salt in the air and feel the icicles on your face. Welcome to the Country Hidden in the Snow."

_Hey fans, sorry for the eternal wait for this next chapter, sorry it took so long but I had English first semester and I wanted to see how much better my writing got, please feel free to comment and look forward to the next chapter much sooner than it took fir me to write the last one._

_Atreides 4_0


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Genin lined up in a row and gave the captain a simultaneous bow that their heads almost swept the deck and boisterously said "thank you very much!" The captain merely scratched his face and stared at the band of ninja blandly, "well, y'all come back alive, no one who ever took a step on this ship passed away from any kind of murder, so don't ruin the streak!"

The ninjas straightened up and snapped "Yes sir!" with a mumbled "_old man…_" from Justin at the end. The captain chose to ignore the side comment and shooed them off the ship so his men could get to work on unloading their fishy cargo.

Naruto stretched from a long ride, and then shivered suddenly from the frigid breeze. Justin followed with his wings huddled close to his duster, shielding himself from the icicled winds that pounded his sides. Naruto stopped in front of a restaurant and looked at Justin hungrily. Justin hesitated, after briefly remembering what happened at the last restaurant, he nodded shakily and they both walked into the bright, warm pub.

At the entrance, Naruto hung his jacket on a wall-mounted coat hanger, Justin tried to hang his duster on one, but it fell off the first time and he decided to hang it on three instead of one. Out of curiosity, Naruto tried to lift Justin's duster, but was winded with amazement on how heavy it was. "Chain blades" Justin said and pointed at the deep pockets that were sewn with leather on the insides of the duster. Naruto peered into the pockets and pulled out a length of the amazing chain he had in his hands. "The whole strand is made out of those" he connected his index and thumb to make a circle "they all have razor-sharp sides that stay sharp forever, and there is around 100 yards of this in each pocket." Naruto's eyes widened in awe as he heard this bit of information, he wondered "hey, how do you use it?" Justin arched his brow at the trivial question and responded "well, the metal is infused with chakra, so with just a little manipulation jutsu and presto, they move like snakes." He demonstrated by flattening his hands together and in one motion, spread them so that both palms were face-down and flat. "Manipulation jutsu" he mumbled and then with expert precision, he manipulated the chains to jut out like birds pecking at a meal and then like waves receding in the tide.

Naruto was impressed until the bartender came over and scoffed at Justin "no jutsu of any kind in this establishment." Justin bowed and apologized, then he and Naruto took their seats in front of the blazing fire. After having an appetizer of hot rolls, they both settled back in their seats and stretched out. Justin's left wing almost hit the person in the table next to him, and the other almost knocked a picture down from the top of the fire place. He shot an annoyed look at the picture and apologized to the person, then he sat up straight and settled into his pot of Earl Grey.

Naruto spaced out for a minute, then blurted out "where did you get those wings?" Justin calmly set down his cup of tea and leaned back into his chair. "Hey Naruto, remember back on the ship when I sliced that thing's head off?" Naruto thought for a moment, and then nodded. Justin said "well, my arm wasn't part of a jutsu, but part of a curse." Naruto nodded, he could sympathize with unfortunate souls because he was one of them. Justin then turned around to sit backwards in his seat and lifted his shirt. Naruto stared at the tattoo on Justin's body "demon" Naruto muttered.

It was indeed a demon, or in this case the Japanese symbol for it, the lines of the character extended down the sides of Justin's arms and his legs. He also had a spot on the back of his neck that looked like two triangles touching each other by the tips. Naruto traced the character with his finger tip and gazed with wonder at the tattoo.

Justin inserted some of his chakra into the black line of his arm and then it burst into flames and charred his arm blacker than coal. Naruto looked real closely to it and when Justin snapped his fingers, it turned to normal.

"Tis what happens." Justin shrugged and went to work on the steaming bowl of noodles that was set down in front of him, ignoring the glare that he got from the waitress. Naruto almost asked "what happens if what?" but he decided that noodles came first and now was the time to indulge himself in the long, thick forest of pleasure _*_.

They left their money on the table and suited up to go out in the white wilderness that was beyond the doorway. Naruto instantly shivered as the arctic wind sent a barrage of icicles towards his face. Justin stiffly spread out his wings and flapped them to warm them up. He then motioned for Naruto to jump on his back and when he mounted, they once again darted off into the sky.

It wasn't long before the village where the local Kage was found; to be honest, Naruto thought, it was extremely difficult to not notice it in the first place. "In fuck's name……..?" Justin started. "Is this?" Naruto finished after blinking several times and smacking himself on the face to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

It looked like a sphere where nothing could get neither in nor out. It was as if there was a barrier over the village that blocked the snow from getting inside, like some invisible force blocked the stinging cold from coming in. Justin landed and slowly passed through the barrier, Naruto followed suit.

_It is most definitely summer, the grass is green, the birds are chirping…_ thought Naruto as he looked about the landscape around him. He filled his lungs up and shouted extremely loudly "ANYONE IN HERE?" It echoed among the houses and with a quick glance and shrug from Justin, they began to walk through the village.

They both inspected the houses, mostly old stone homes with straw roofs were littered through out the village. Naruto was looking around at the houses and not paying attention until his foot landed with a splat into a puddle of "…blood?" Naruto asked. Justin hurried over and nodded, it seemed to make a trail over a grassy hill, so without another word, they both dashed over the hill to see what was on the other side.

What they saw was a dark cemetery surrounding a gloomy looking church. Walking through the gateway overgrown with vines, it seemed that they walked from the world of milk and sugar to the land of the dead. Fresh gravestones were cluttered close to the church as if they were just dug the day before. As they both got closer to the church, they both noticed a sullen chant coming from behind the church.

The scene was not an especially joyous one. There was a Pasteur reading from the bible with a grave look on his face. Three men leaning on shovels and covered with dirt were staring at the graves with tears racing down their faces. Around them were fifty villagers, the women wept, the men tried to take control of their contorted faces, and the children kept quiet throughout the service. Naruto was so spaced out by the funeral that he accidentally tripped over a grave stone that was on the path. The villagers turned to the strange pair as they came from the side of the church and the priest's eyes lit up instantly.

"Ahhh, God thank you for the help." He shut his bible and hurried on over to Naruto and Justin, but with a glance at Justin's wings, he wrapped his cross around his hand and prayed to his bible.

Naruto immediately spoke up "Hey old man! If you don't like him then tell him up front, but don't treat him like he is a demon or something!" The Pasteur looked up from his bible and replied "boy, this man's soul is manipulated by a demon."

Naruto shot Justin a puzzled look, and Justin sighed and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder as to comfort him. "He's right Naruto, but it is another story that will be saved for later." Justin quickly looked back at the Pasteur "and you, you can tell us where we can find the Kage or you can get the fuck outta my way."

The Pasteur glared at Justin as to decide if he should perform an exorcism on the spot, or to crucify him, or a combination of both. After a stare-down, he finally replied "I'm currently in charge here, our _shadow_ has been kidnapped by the creatures that have been killing everyone in this town lately."

He looked Naruto up and down and, reluctantly, Justin, and said "I guess you're the ninja's that he originally hired to destroy these things?" Naruto nodded, Justin just grunted.

"Well then, I guess we shall go down to business, shall we?" He motioned towards the church and they entered into the sanctuary. They sat down and he began the briefing "these creatures are mainly short, they have teeth that stick out of their head and they have such massive wrinkles that you can't see their eyes. They are extremely strong and are very organized as if they..." "…seem to be following a leader." Justin finished with a monotonous voice of boredom. "Yes…" said the irritated Pasteur "your mission is to seek out and eradicate their leader."

Naruto and Justin both nodded in understanding, the peace, however, was shattered when a pretty blonde with sausage curls blew through the doors to see the ninja. She immediately started to shake Naruto's hand vigorously and started speaking gibberish to him. "Why, thank you ever so much for going out of your way to try and save my father thank you for saving us and if there is anything you need anything at all I will be glad to do _anything_ for you!"

When she finished speaking Naruto remembered to breathe and took a deep breath. He was getting his blood flowing until he heard a shriek of terror from the nonstop talker, who seconds before almost caused him to pass out from listening to her

She dashed behind Naruto and pointed at Justin in fear and threw a bible at his head at mach speed. Justin managed to dodge and started to stalk towards her with fists clenched "_you little bitch" _he muttered. The Pasteur stepped in between the both of them "that is quite enough, and under no circumstances do you curse under the house of God." He turned to the blonde "Isabella, _please_ show this nice young man around while I talk with the other _nice_ young man for a little bit."

Isabella smiled maliciously at Justin and took Naruto by the arm "bye bye demon boy" she shot at Justin and she led Naruto out the church door and disappeared over the hill. Justin squinted over the hill and the father walked next to him and looked towards the hill too. "This globe that secludes us from the rest of the frigid world came at the same time as the attacks." He said as he walked through the door and looked up to the sky. Justin walked slowly outside and rested his chin against his chest with his eyes closed. "My name is Paul" said the Pasteur after a moment of silence. "Can you tell what's wrong with me?" mumbled Justin. Paul still looked to the sky "your world is the same as ours, it is cold out there, and in your heart there are souls that burden you." Justin shrugged "close enough, but now I have work to do." He walked out of the cemetery and back to the grassy hill. He heard Paul yell "catch" and with a single movement, he caught a gold cross by the chain without turning around. He paused for a second to put it on, and then kept on moving over the hill.

Even though Naruto was being clung onto by this strange girl, he had to force himself to run just to keep up with her. Now that the town was relatively alive now, he had to dodge carts, chicken, and children. Isabella, however, seemed to be enjoying the town as if it has been the first time she had been there for ages. Dragging him through the dirt and people to go look through shop windows as if she was visiting from a country that had nothing in her way.

"I always love coming to the town! There is so much that happens here that there is practically something new to buy here every day!" she giggled and Naruto barely dodged a person walking out of a local restaurant.

Naruto finally caught enough breath to choke out "slow down!" before he crashed into another cart. Isabella slowed to a walking pace and looked as though she was trying to see what was behind the barrier, but the bright-white snow reflected off the sun and illuminated all. Naruto tried to look through the snow and try and see the sun, or anything for that matter; but it was all for naught because of the blanket of snow. He realized that the more he stared at the snow, the more spots of white floating around in his vision there were and he suddenly started rigorously rubbing his eyes after straining them for quite some time. He looked at Isabella for a second the watery eyes and for a second he thought she was in all black. _"Stupid snow…" _he thought, she chuckled quietly to herself and said quietly "ya know, people go blind from looking at the sun for too long." Naruto shook his head to make sure that all the little floating specks in his eyes, then lifted his nose and wafted heavily, smelling the different smells in the market bleaching, chickens and _"whaddaya know?"_ He asked himself. He quickly then lurched, surprising even the quick maiden at his arm, into the maze of houses and shops stopping every once in a while to take a deep smell to an invisible aroma to Isabella.

After a while from running around the block, they stopped at an out-of-the-way sort of restaurant. Shabby signs, rusty hinges on the door, some things that did not impress Isabella, but Naruto saw something (or in this case, smelled) that seemed noteworthy. He entered it and from the impression on the outside, it didn't do the inside justice. The booths were oak, the inside was buzzing from the liveliness of different parties laughing and enjoying their meal. But was striking Naruto as the main centerpiece was that instead of a barbecue pit at each table, there was a big one in the middle of the restaurant in which people stood from their tables and cooked their own barbecue and made conversation with others from other tables.

They were greeted and led to their table by a waitress, who didn't look like a slob found in a back alley, and enjoyed talking to each other about different subjects that seemed to cross their mind at the time until they got their food.

Meanwhile…

Justin wandered down the streets, quietly thinking on what to do about the problem at hand. _"What does this disappearance mean? And why are the weird-faces popping up?" _he pondered. He stopped in mid-thought and saw that he had been blocking traffic in front of a shabby looking bar. Without much thought, he stepped in and veered his way around the noisy patrons towards the surprisingly lonely bar. He pulled up one of the barstools and asked the bartender for sake. The bartender looked at him skeptically, then shrugged and turned around to get the order.

When he got back with the bottle and the dish, he leaned on the top of the bar and looked at Justin. Now that Justin had a better view, he saw that the man had his jet-black hair in a ponytail, he was wearing a dirty-white apron, and his scarred face had a look of accusation on it.

"You new in town?"

"Huh?"

"I said, are you new in town?"

Justin thought about the question, and shrugged his shoulders and replied "just passin' through"

The bartender leaned closer and looked at Justin as if his eye was going to fall out of its socket; then leaned back and laughed heartily. "Ho ho! I haven't seen a rag so used up like you, what's yer' business here son?" Justin looked up from his drink and replied "I'm on a mission to find out where the fuck your big man on the throne is." The bartender leaned back and roared with laughter "Ho ho! I like you boy, I think I got some, ah, information that I think that you'll find useful." Justin, thinking about it, decided to listen to what the bartender was tootin'. "Well, from what I heard, I hear that there was a village that was in the same predicament that we are in right now." Justin raised his brow "Was?" "Yeh, right now they have no one to lead their village right now. All they had was their Pasteur, who just happened to come over to our village the same night that our _shadow_ disappeared."

Justin thought a moment. "Was he from a rival village or something?" "Hmph!" the bartender grunted "They are our sister village, right now they are in turmoil because they have no one to lead them, like chickens with their heads cut off." Justin thought about this, thought about it hard, and made up his mind.

He threw more questions at the bartender and he answered them all with gumption. He then thanked the bartender and left the building, looking for the address that was written down on a napkin for him. With some help along the way, he wound up in front on one of the large mansions that were on the hills surrounding the village. He walked past the gate and knocked on the large oak double doors. A cute brunette maid in a petite maid's outfit opened the door timidly and blushed when she saw Justin and his large wings protruding from his back.

"Excuse me, but the master isn't in right now." She spoke softly with downcast eyes. "That's alright…" he said as he tucked his wings to the back of the body and leaned against the doorway, already made a mental image of what kind of "master" this guy was. "I want to talk to you before I get to him anyways." With the last comment she blushed furiously and opened the door more to let Justin in.

They walked through a dark hall, illuminated by lamps and doors, to the end which opened up into a large room filled with books, large cushion sofas and a large fireplace that cast a reddish glow in the room. Under closer inspection, on the walls of the room were covered with the heads of trophy animals and some full-body animals, but the centerpiece of the room was a giant portrait of the owner of the house, he was a wiry man with snow-white hair and in a military outfit weighed down by all the medals on it, he was holding a whip under one arm and a monocle in his opposite hand and gave a piercing glare.

Justin sat down on one of the crimson couches and spread his wings out behind it while the maid nervously set down expensive looking china set, the aroma of hot tea creeping its way from the cups. Justin took his cup and sat back while taking sips from the cup, looking at the maid with her cup between her hands. She was taking sips of tea while looking up at his wings at the same time. Justin smiled and put his cup down "Cool aren't they? Presents from my dad, always wanted them." The maid looked at him with pure terror, and that made him throw his head back and laugh. "Joking, joking, anyways why don't you tell me about your master?" The maid bit her lip, looked around as if he were right behind her, then spoke "he's a very… kind master…he goes out a lot with his friends and goes hunting, but at night he sits and watches the fire, doesn't read, doesn't go to the bathroom, just sits there." She shuddered and Justin made his way to her side and put his arm around her to let her lean on his side. She blushed furiously and leaned on him a bit more, he decided that it was time to use a trick that he learned from his village and put some _persuasion _in his voice, a chakra trick. _"Tell me about what happened on his last hunt."_ She suddenly became calm, voice clear, and stopped blushing, as if in a trance. "He came home late, it was raining that day and he usually comes back with his buddies, but he only came back with his hunting uniform covered with dirt." She frowned as if someone didn't take their muddy boots off before coming inside the house "he threw me his uniform and told me to clean it, but he didn't have his monocle on, or in his pocket, and the whole mess was covered with dirt." Justin wondered about it "rain?" The maid nodded "yes, it is the first time it ever rained here, we usually water things with a shovel full of snow, but rain was sure uncommon." He turned her towards him with both hands on her shoulders and whispered harshly _"forget"_ and she snapped out of her daze and slowly began to blush.

"Ahem."

They both turned towards the source of the sound, it was the master of the house, looking at them as if looking at a homeless man begging for money, superiorly. The maid shrieked a little and hurriedly made her way to her master's side, hands clasped in front of her and looking down. "I didn't expect to have a visitor here today, but it is so nice for us to be graced by the presence by Mr.…?"

"Justin"

"Funny, I don't recall inviting you to my home, it is by wonder…" he shot a menacing look towards his maid "…how you made it in past my maid who knows not to let strange people in." Justin rose and spoke with an indignant tone. "Well Mr.…?"

"Wallace Fitzgerald"

"…Fitzgerald, I am here on investigation purposes regarding the sudden departure of your _shadow_, so please be ever so kind on cooperating with me and I will make an effort on getting out of your hair as soon as possible." Mr. Fitzgerald pondered the question, then gave his maid his coat, shooed her off, and sat down on the sofa opposite of Justin, legs crossed and his hands on the back of the sofa.

"I can tell she likes you" were the first words out of his mouth; Justin stared blankly at him until he finished talking. "She usually waits for me to ask for tea before she gets it for me, but I can tell she got it for you without asking." He shrugged "I guess a parent knows when his own daughter fancy's another." Justin put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin against the backs of his hands. "What happened on the night it first rained here?" Justin asked. Fitzgerald looked at him in a lazy fashion and re-crossed his legs. "Me and my buddies were hunting snow hares that just happened to have stumbled on. We didn't notice that there was a Grizzly following them and we had sort of an accident."

"Don't bears usually hibernate during the winter? I'm pretty sure that they would be asleep right now."

Fitzgerald stared thoughtfully at Justin and said "The reason why bears hibernate is because they have stored enough fat for the winter sonny, but when our "summer" still has one inch of snow, the animals still don't want to come out therefore making finding food difficult." Justin let a brief expression of irritation flash across his face before it settled into his usual I-don't-care look, which to a normal onlooker would look as if he is mad at something.

"Anyways…" Fitzgerald started to say, before Justin's hand closed around his neck, turned into "… so *choke* did you decide to stop listening or did you…"

Justin squeezed harder and whispered "I ran out of patience and decided that it was time for you to shut the fuck up." He brought the sleeve of his duster up and swiped his tattoo, turning his arm black. Fitzgerald opened his mouth wide, as if in surprise, but people don't smile when they're surprised, this is something that only happens if they are drunk or shedding skin, and Justin thought that Fitzgerald didn't look very drunk. Instead of a tongue, or even a mouth for that matter, another head came out of the mouth and it looked black as tar and had quite a creepy grin.

"Hmph" Justin snorted, figuring as much that the outcome would come out as it is. He had a feeling that the creatures from the boat had some sort of connection to this, but now that whatever human lead was probably killed by these things, he had to rethink his strategy.

"Come on out." He called, and the maid slowly opened the door with her mouth covered and her eyes wide. He killed the thing with a crushing grip and laid the corpse onto the sofa. He once again put _persuasion_ in his voice and grabbed her by the shoulders once more "_tell me, did you ever see his friends after that encounter?_" the maid then spoke slowly and monotonously, "…no but, that night was also the night that the shadow went missing, and I also heard that he was near the place where the _shadow_ met with the priest." This new bit of information shocked Justin, and after a few seconds of calculations and conclusions, he then decided that Naruto wasn't in the safest positions and should be immediately saved. Justin gingerly grabbed the maid by the chin and kissed her softly; her outcast look turned into a rosy cheeked one and she eventually fainted from excitement. He laid her gingerly onto the sofa and headed out the mansion, stretched out his wings, and flew into the dusky sky.

Naruto and Isabella walked out of the restaurant, bundled up in their coats and heavy stomachs and walked the dusky streets of the village. Isabella led a tired Naruto over grassy hills to one that was far away from the town. Out of exhaustion, Isabella slipped and fell, giggling a little bit, and pulled Naruto down with her. Naruto had a confused look on his face, but lay on his back and turned it to the sky.

"Such a pretty evening, too bad its cold outside" Naruto grumbled, his eyelids were half closed and he was setting his head down by Isabelle's side. Isabelle spoke on low, soothing tones, almost as if she was talking him to sleep. "It's going to be such a pretty night, the moon will be red tonight, and red is so lovely." Naruto nodded in agreement, until he nodded off to sleep. Clouds rumbled by and a full red moon took the skies above. It stared at the two sitting on the grass like a bloodshot iris and watched as Isabella's face slowly turned black. While she was undergoing a transformation much like a werewolf goes through on a full moon, an inconspicuous black spot appeared on the moon and slowly grew with each passing second. When Isabella fully transformed, the black spot took the form of a large headed spear with a platform on top. And when Isabelle leaned over Naruto, back away from the moon, the spear, as well as Justin's leg afterwards, cleanly cleaved her leg into two.

"FUCK!" she wailed mercilessly, waking Naruto with the din. Naruto was in shock to see the bleeding being cringe at his side and wondered why Justin and his spear blocked her other leg. Isabella lunged towards Justin, but he pointed his left arm towards her and his spear, blacker than tar, had black needles come shooting from it.

"This spear is made from my right arm and I can make it into any shape or form I desire. I also have pumped your fucking pathetic body with the same material, but the needles are covered in chakra that is used primarily for destructive purposes." Isabella, or the being, screeched one more "FUCK" then wrapped her arms around her body and began sobbing.

Through the confusion, Naruto almost felt sorry for the thing, but Justin didn't care for pity and walked up to the being and planted his iron boot firmly on the head of the being and pushed it into the ground. "Get the old man Naruto, our work here is done."

Naruto, wide eyed, nodded and quickly ran off to fetch him, he came back moments later with the Pasteur gasping for air and wide eyed. "This" Justin began "is the reason for your problems." Both Naruto and the Paul looked at the writhing thing under Justin's foot with utter amazement while Justin continued talking. "These black things are an infection, jumping from one body to another while leaving their children behind. How the disease was carried here was through the Pasteur from the other village and met with your _shadow_, I can guess that during consumption, poor Isabella walked into their meeting and was consumed instead." Justin ground his foot on the head of his captured germ with extra glee in his voice. "The disappearance was probably just because the germ only needed one body and disposed of the rest. What these things are doing is that they are purposely infecting the ruling class of this village and intend to eat the rest though contact." Justin then stomped Isabella's head with a sadistic look of pure joy on his face. Naruto looked away with disgust because of the sight before him, Paul then clenched his fists and shouted "Enough!" Justin looked at them with a look of boredom, and then he breathed deeply, spread his palms out, and did a chopping motion with his hand. These made the chains inside of his duster crawl out from the bottom and end whatever life the being had left.

Paul pulled a scroll from his bag and threw it to Justin, who reached out and snatched it from the air. He muttered a mumbling "thank you" and walked away from the pair of Genin.

"I don't think that was necessary" Naruto spoke, trying to keep somewhat of a controlled temper. Justin shrugged again and motioned Naruto to climb onto his back. Naruto mounted, and with a kick they ascended towards the sky.

On the ship an hour later

Justin stretched out on his hammock and put his hands behind his head, the dinner at a nearby pub brought he and Naruto great satisfaction and after dinner they could barely walk without kneeling over. Naruto spoke from the bottom bunk "so how were you cursed?" Justin thought for a moment, then said "My father was the leader of my village, however a fallen god fell from the heavens and made the people of the village sin. To stop this from continuing, I was chosen to be its container, thus sinning by being alive." Naruto cringed at the thought, knowing how it's like to be an outcast, then asked simply "what village are you from?" Justin was silent, then said "volcano" and with that, they both fell asleep.

_Sorry you guys had to wait so damn long, I expect the next one to be out in a few months so please don't despair! Any questions, comments, complaints, and/or concerns, please tell me!_

_-Atreides40 _


End file.
